Thanks for all the replies everyone! It's helpful. I'll have to think it all over and decide whether it's too risky for me. We'll see!

This isn't exactly a related question, but what about a sport like boxing? Assuming I wear the proper safety gear during sparring, what are the likely injuries? I'd hazard a guess and say nose/jaw/concussion type stuff, right?

Thanks for all the replies everyone! It's helpful. I'll have to think it all over and decide whether it's too risky for me. We'll see!

This isn't exactly a related question, but what about a sport like boxing? Assuming I wear the proper safety gear during sparring, what are the likely injuries? I'd hazard a guess and say nose/jaw/concussion type stuff, right?

Thanks again.

broken nose, cauliflower ears, and of course the legendary and very common "boxer's fracture"

"Face punches are an essential character building part of a martial art. You don't truly love your children unless you allow them to get punched in the face." - chi-conspiricy
"When I was a little boy, I had a sailor suit, but it didn't mean I was in the Navy." - Mtripp on the subject of a 5 year old karate black belt
"Without actual qualifications to be a Zen teacher, your instructor is just another roundeye raping Asian culture for a buck." - Errant108
"Seriously, who gives a **** what you or Errant think? You're Asian males, everyone just ignores you, unless you're in a krotty movie." - new2bjj

ghosttraingray, at the club I go to there are plenty of guys in their 40's, 50's and even early 60's who are still actively training and engaging in Randori and they have been doing the same their entire adult lives and they are in great shape.

OK, a couple of them them have dodgy ears and occasionaly they give it a 'oh me bones!' but all old people do that so that is nothing unnatural.

Judo has lots of awesome old guys, so that should give you a good indication of long term affects.

My experience so far is that the spazzing new guy is the greatest risk that I have faced, they have slapped my face, twisted my fingers, injured my shoulder and kicked me in the penis. But they don't last long anyway usually.

Ive only been training judo for two and a half years now, twice a week and im yet to sustain any injuries that have caused me to have any time off of work and i work in construction.

When i did semi contact taekwondo i broke some toes when doing a sloppy round house kick which got blocked by my opponents elbow! Tore ligements in both ankles playing football ( soccer ) but touch wood nothing so far in judo.

Theres a few guys who i train with who work as police officers, an engineer and other various manual workers who i asked the same question your asking and they all said that in their opinion the injury rate in judo was no high than in any other contact sport that they have previously played i.e. football, rugby.

The way i see it is that its inevitable that you will get injured at some point in your life whether its doing judo, a work accident or car accident etc you cant live life worring about injury. Lifes not a dress rehearsal, you only get one shot at it so if you've allways wanted to do judo, martials arts or any other sport just go for it you never know it might become your passion and IF you do get injured then you may choose to re evaluate your decision.

You could always try and save a lil bit of money just incase you need time off of work or get some personal injury insurance?

Do any of the UK bullys know of anytype of sports injury/ personal injury insurance that covers judo here in the UK as its something i keep meaning to look into.

Being relaxed just takes time. I honestly believe that you have to reach the point of trust. You can't relax if you don't trust your partner. If you're the type that doesn't trust people outright, it will take longer. It's hard to trust people you don't know.

Seems to me, that if you can get to know the people around you, everything else will come easy.

Hmmmm, maybe this is one of the most neglected facts for Judo. We all talk about time with training, and training making you better. Maybe it's trusting the folks you train with. If you trust them to throw you, it's easier to learn how to fall. If you learn how to fall without fear you'll progress.